I love Penang and why.

Morning mist along the highway, somewhere around Ipoh

I'm back from my gastronomical marathon in Penang. It was a two-day road trip, with the sole purpose of stuffing our deprived guts with as much good food as possible.

Ahh. *rubs protruding belly* I miss it already. When are we going back?

Penang people and their food never cease to amaze me. We'd drive along the streets and Mel Sim would just point to an unassuming hawker stall with only two tables and say, "This stall sells really good [insert food name]." Penangites appear to keep a (long) mental list of eating specific food at specific places. Mel Sim planned our itinerary and path along the nice makan places (stop here to eat chee cheong fun, then next stop at around Komtar for cendol, ...), even factoring in a walk in the mall to digest the food before the next session of food-guzzling.

I love Mel Sim. I dedicate this paragraph to her. Mwahhhh!!!

Which brings me to the point - Penangites are so friendly! I don't see why some people insist on thinking that they're calculative and selfish. All the Penangites that I know are really nice and very direct, so there's no miscommunication involved. And their Hokkien! I met an Indian lady whose Hokkien is better than myself, of Hokkien descent. So shameful lah. *hides face*

Back to food. Good food commands respect in Penang. A famous char kuey tiao stall in Lorong Selamat charges a whopping RM5.50 for one plate, does not bring food to your table and makes you line up under the blazing sun to retrieve your plate. The sight of the waiting line of people wiping their brows meekly convinces you that the char kuey tiao is that good. It is! *salivates*

Another case in point is this lone stall beside the road selling deep fried "ni kueh", nian gao in Mandarin. A man parked his Mercedes by the roadside, crossed the road and took his place at the end of the queue. I don't see Mercedes-laden men in KL doing that. (Would be hell easier to meet one if they did.)

The said ni-kueh stall

Penang drivers. My friend PL from Penang is a state biker (context: bicycles) and he drives like he's navigating on his bike. Point is, many Penangites drive like that. And due to the scarcity of parking spaces, they're whizzes at side parking. Mel Sim even queried if our driver is good in side parking before he came. (He is. Incidentally he aces at return parking as well.) Penang motorcyclists are also a bunch of cocky lot as they tend to swerve in from nowhere then hog the whole road. The car drivers are surprisingly tolerant of the motorcyclists. (Maybe because my limited sample size consists of drivers who are also motorcyclists themselves)

Shopping. Heh heh heh heh. I broke my oath of no more shoe shopping and here's the Arnold Palmer pair of flats that I got. I think it's discounted but not very sure. Guilty sikit. =P


And this is my prized catch! Behold, a sliver of my childhood memories in the full 38 series of Ranma 1/2, by Rumiko Takahashi (translated into Chinese of course). Check out the panda bears on the spines of the books! *sighs in happiness*

Didn't take any food pictures. Too busy eating to do so. Here's a picture of sunrise in Penang to compensate. Mel Sim and Mel Tan took it while I was busy sleeping in the apartment.

The sunrise that I didn't see

I love Penang. =D

Dawn

7am, 27/4/2007

I have finished it, formatted the whole thing, and it will be printed out and binded today so that I can pass it up this afternoon to the Institute.

Here's a secret: at some point of staring at it over and over again, I grew so tired of it that I just wanted to delete the whole file. I'd probably be crying now if I did. Wahaha..

The thing is inconsistent. At times I fretted and fretted over one single paragraph. Other times I just closed my eyes and breezed over the entire section.

Oh ya. The thing is my thesis. See I'm so fed up of it already that I'm referring to it as the thing.

Haha incoherence... it's light out, and I haven't slept all night. But for some reason the fatigue has not set in. So I decided to cast the hiatus to the wind and blog.

I'll still be busy the next few days. Tomorrow I'll be at Penang stuffing my face whilst the action is on at Ijok. I love Penang! Mel Sim is going to give me all the o jians I want! I love her!

Have to prepare a research proposal for further PhD applications.

I'm also thinking of volunteering at a play therapy workshop at P.S. The Children early May.

My birthday is next week! I am born in the year of the boar. Go figure.

Then KF is only coming back on 11th. Maybe then I'll go to Singapore to meet him. We are also going to travel end of May because he has some forced leaves from AMD.

A teeny bit liberated from the thing, but am awfully afraid I'll have to revise it. I am so awfully sick of it. Bleh. Maybe mums are sick of their children the way I am now.

I feel like shopping. For books maybe. Don't need any more girly stuff.

Why am I still not sleepy? It's 7:21am for crying out loud! I slept at 4:30am yesterday!

I am going to pin myself onto the bed and get some shuteye.

It's bright outside. Finally. =D

*Update at 12:50pm*
Dad came back with my softbound copy of the thesis: Behold!

Road to where? You decide.

Sigh.

Hiatus kononnya. It still stands, by the way. Right after I respond to this ball in my court – last one, I promise. I’ll try to make this as clear as possible, then potter back to wherever I please.

Please read this if you haven’t.

Set? Go.

Firstly, in Susan’s rebuttal to me, there was no mention of Ijok in anywhere. This is strange because I was referring to her proposal of passing up a referendum in Ijok at the first place. And to view all the arguments in this context and temporal dimension is crucial, on two accounts: 1. Ijok’s ultra-sensitive political position. 2. All-Blogs is in its infancy, it is less than 1 month-old and has not even been registered. Its constitution is not ready; membership issues are still being thrashed out. To an extent, it is still but a figment of our imaginations, each person imagining his/her own version of what All-Blogs should be. Like a friend was telling me - blind men and the elephant.

Secondly, it is apparent that we have different targets in mind when we talk about the blogosphere. This I have to set right, because arguing with two different sets of assumptions is just wasting everybody’s time. To me, the Malaysian blogosphere composes of EVERY single blogger. Those who blog about their cats, their cars, what they had for lunch, how Phuket is the best place on earth and etc. Private, public. Real name, pseudonym. 80yearolds, 10yearolds. EVERYBODY. Sociopolitical bloggers should not be so presumptuous as to believe that they are the only segment of the blogosphere who matter.

I had been observing other segments of the blogosphere when the Bloggers United movement broke out. Based on my observations, many other bloggers simply do not share the indignant feelings of this part of the blogosphere. They don’t care. *gasps from the audience* They don’t. So from that point of view, I’d say that basing All-Blogs on the Bloggers United framework would limit it to precisely the 300 people who put up the badge. But All-Blogs could be so much more!

Thirdly, I am not proposing that bloggers under All-Blogs tone down to appease the government. We have to be clear here, that All-Blogs is an entity separate from its members. Its members can do whatever they like, but NOT under the name of All-Blogs. For example, Rocky can go to Ijok and blog about it, but he may not blog that “All-Blogs went to Ijok today”, unless it was passed by an All-Blogs meeting. The members can have all kinds of ideologies and inclinations, but the umbrella of All-Blogs must be neutral. Also, All-Blogs should not impose any rules on its bloggers except some general non-binding pledge, like I had previously mentioned here.

You mentioned that All-Blogs must take a stand to educate and engage the government. Well, my stand is that we should keep our eyes on the macro objectives of freedom of expression and freedom of information (elaborated here), and I don’t believe that going to Ijok, demanding for freedom for bloggers is a strategic move to lead us towards that direction. I beg to differ about the government not needing education on blogging, and I don’t think they need any more persuasion that bloggers are serious about their freedom to blog. How do you intend to educate and engage the government when you push it further to confirm its suspicions of ALL bloggers being anti-establishment and hence must be exterminated at all costs? And how is that fair to other bloggers who don’t share your cause?

You flatter me when saying that my thoughts represent the future generation of Malaysia, Susan. However it would be utterly insolent if I were to accept that as I can see many other youths from diverse backgrounds working together towards a better Malaysia, which would hopefully be brighter than the somber projection that you painted.

And this is my last word on the subject. I’ll be enjoying my hiatus avoiding leeches in FRIM, and you guys can have fun in my comment box while I’m away.

p/s. My other musings of All-Blogs can be found here, here and the infamous here.
p/p/s. It is Jun-E, J-U-N with a dash, E. *slaps forehead*

Hell hath no fury like a woman with PMS

Was moody the whole day today with a severe bout of what they casually call the PMS. Imagine being lethargic yet having the urge to tear down a house. Any house. Your house needs tearing down? Call me. My two bare hands are waiting.

My readership skyrocketed today. Normally I'd be quite exhilarated but contrary to that I slipped further into the abyss called depression and actually resented the hits. Then I was happy. Then I went back to being mopey. Mood Swings!

Reason for the up in the readership - Rocky kindly gave me a "Thinking Blogger Award". Arrgh the pressure to receive it from one of the Tai Kor's of the so-po blogging scene in Malaysia. Part of me is smug but part of me feels that I really don't deserve it. And I'm not saying this to appear humble or whatever, because this links to the reason why I resented the hits - because most people who would come a-knocking would expect a government-bashing world-saving hot-blooded alpha-feminist blogger.

I am not. This is my personal blog. I blog about shoes and makeup, drool over celebrities, fantasize and sometimes even laugh at people behind their backs. The recent mingling with some of the so-po bloggers has sobered up my writing a little, as my audiences are primarily mature males and some unidentified readers might even compose of people I know in real life.

The "All-Blogs must NOT go to Ijok" is probably the only time that I have taken such a strong stand in the blogosphere, because I genuinely wanted to express my point of view. I don't write like that all the time! I'm a social recluse, even in the cyberspace (which is why I rarely comment on blogs)! I won't be compelled to change my style and submit an essay to my blog every week!

Whole afternoon I was swimming in a downward spiral of perceived expectations till I became so fed up that I went to the hairdresser's to marinate my hair in some foul-smelling liquid so that it would curl. Strands that rebel against this cause can choose to fall out. I'm democratic in this way.

But in-between mood swings today I realized something. It's either I blog for myself or forgo this little space that is mine. I set up a blog because I wanted a space to stretch my mental muscles without being judged. Pour my soul out to strangers and be truthful to myself. Hentam people with no holds barred. Be silly and immature and pull outrageous stunts.

Instead I am becoming increasingly constipated and politically correct, although none of my posts are deliberately so. I just bin the rest into the drafts where they will never see the light of the day. I don't think my unborn posts are too happy about that.

My blog. It's going to be about me. I will be as bimbotic or emo or pointless as I want and I should not feel bad about it.

Having said that whole incoherent bunch, thanks for the award, dear Rocky =) I appreciate it very much in a long-winded eccentric kind of way. I'll stick to my tradition of not tagging people though (I enjoy killing off memes. Yay!).

I went to watch Screwed yesterday. Brilliant production by local youths - I am so proud of them all! It's sad that they only show for a few days and I happened to catch the last show. Or else I would launch an unpaid-for media campaign typical of adrenaline-filled me. For those uninitiated, it is a compilation of ten short skits, by The Oral Stage. The list of skits is compiled by Su Ann from Quaintly.net.

I loved The Silent Piece, My Beautiful Regret, Toilet Talk and of course the hilarious The Untitled Choral Piece.

I'm contemplating about gushing about them, but I don't think I'll do them justice by giving fragmented comments here and there.

There is My Beautiful Regret which touched me the deepest, the monologue lamenting about how one is unable to recall what he has done, although he has done a lot - by running fast, reaching for heights, his life passed by in a flurry. But of what use is it to have accomplished so much if you can't remember what you did? This sent a chill down my spine. I recall reflecting over the exact same thing early this year, when I could not remember where last year went. I was so busy that the year flew by like it was only 6 months, when I was faced with the New Year again. I had no vivid memories of how I spent my year, and the only impression dented was that I was perpetually tired. I made a resolution that I would not let this year fly by like that. I would make it memorable. It would be the best year of my life.

So far I am almost five months into what is supposed to be the best year of my life. What memories have I? I remember stressing about the thesis day in and day out, forcing myself to write even when I didn't feel like it. I remember some travelling. I remember talking to KF on the phone, and our opposite time difference. Most of all, I remember spending most of my time glued to the PC. Blogging. Reading blogs. Stressing about various events.

Maybe I have been running too fast. When I am not running I am forcing myself to run. I am spending too much time on trivial aspects of life and not actually living life. Adopting the virtual world as my reality. It's been such a while since I've read any real book. It's been forever since I've lay on the grass and looked at the sky. Quality me time.

Suddenly, I am tempted to call a hiatus, although knowing my fickleness I may break it soon. But what the hell, this is my blog.

This blog is suspended for an indefinite period of time.

I will miss you guys =)

So. Freaking. Tired.

That it's not even funny. Indicators: Pimple breakout, check. Two extra shades of black around the eyes, check. Group of tone-deafs playing the marching band in my head, check.

Good news is that it's almost over. No more GRE! No more TOEFL! No more reading The Reluctant Politician under pressure to finish it! (I haven't finished it. Will soon.) Only thing left is the thesis.

My thesis has to undergo one last minor tweak, and I'll probably be able to submit it by next week. [*edit* took down something 'coz I'm afraid I'll jinx it]

Tomorrow I'm going to relax =) Going for karaoke in the afternoon, and then to see Screwed with YJ. Can't wait!

All-Blogs must NOT go to Ijok

I have been observing with interest this post of Susan Loone's, pushing All-Blogs to go to Ijok to "campaign for freedom of speech for bloggers". The arguments going in her comment section seems to have gone awry, attacking people based on their political inclinations (which is totally irrelevant and somewhat childish). Noone seems to care about what I see as the bigger picture, i.e. the future of All-Blogs to be able to unite all bloggers, to educate and to engage the government about blogging.

I wish I could put it in a more diplomatic way (since there are other segments of the cyberspace who strongly agree with Susan) but my opinion is: NO. All-Blogs must NOT go to Ijok.

Firstly, as I have mentioned here in my recommendations for All-Blogs, All-Blogs has to undergo an image revamp. It is important from several levels, to engage more people to blog, and to calm the government down, convince them that we are not here to topple it, but to help it improve our beloved country. We have to be neutral (and perceived so), and change has to come gradually. Not radically, and definitely not when All-Blogs is less than one month old and is still trying to define its existence.

Strategically speaking, it is suicide, for All-Blogs to "campaign", during the clash of the titans. To be there, to be waving the (not yet existent) flag of All-Blogs, will just increase the government’s apparent paranoia towards bloggers. Who's gonna hear, or believe, your cries of “All-Blogs is supporting neither the Opposition or Ruling Party”? Perception is the truth. Besides, at Ijok, the heated atmosphere will force us (All-Blogs) to take sides. Even in Susan’s post, people are taking sides already.

If we go to Ijok and present a referendum, saying "support my referendum, or siaplah kau", do you seriously believe that something good will come out of that? Here are some likely scenarios:

1. Govt becomes even more paranoid and (futile) blogger registration exercises are expedited.
2. Govt laughs at bloggers. With the full capacity of RM36mil behind Ijok. Govt laughs hard.
3. Opposition makes use of All-Blogs for their political speeches. All-Blogs sinks deeper into its anti-establishment image and loses whatsoever hope it has left of being a neutral entity, able to educate govt about what blogs are, and engage govt for healthy dialogue.
4. All-Blogs is ignored. What? We are not as important as we think we are?
   

You can say, fuck the government, they’re the ones behind times, they’re the ones that should listen to us, the almighty bloggers, wielding our keyboards and whatnot, to champion for democracy and freedom of speech. The government says: Fuck you back.

Are we out to prove that our (figurative) balls are bigger than the government’s? Stay focused, people. The good of the country. Getting heard by those who matter. Talking not only to the enlightened, but also to everybody else. Get the drift?

The second thing is, All-Blogs should not do anything of this sort without the agreement of the majority of its members, or at this moment, its committee members (which I am not part of =P). The constitution is not even out to state the All-Blogs’ policies towards these issues! I absolutely refuse to be represented by an entity which I do not believe in.

Yes, bloggers can go by their personal capacities to observe the campaigning process and perhaps provide us with insights overlooked by the mainstream media. But please spare All-Blogs.

I have actually spoken to Rocky about this matter. There seems to be a mix-up of sorts, which I hope that he will clarify a.s.a.p. What I have read and what he has told me seems to be two different scenarios.

Screwed.

I am watching this on Sunday.

Down in the dumps.

Why do people have to do it the "go with us or we'll exterminate you" way?

Why is it so difficult to explain "to give is to receive"?

Why do people display such exuberance when talking about Doomsday?

Sappy love stories, BAH.

People giving back missing children, BAH.

The Fifth Estate, BAH.

BAH.

I dreamt of Anwar yesterday.

I did. I can't remember what it was about, but I do remember Amir being in it. Contrary to what you may imagine, it had no guy-on-guy action. (Gaaah the horror!) Now if I can only recall what it was about... *stares off into the distance*

Speaking of which. The vote-buying activities of BN is really getting to me. VERY tulan. I meant to blog about it earlier when I read Tony's posts on his reflections on the Machap, Post 1 (about on-the-ground work) and Post 2 (BN bringing "development" to Machap. Vote-buying. VOTE-BUYING. WTH.), but it was stuck in a backlog of various other posts I had in my mind (hence the overload and I came up with 3 dustbins instead).

Here are some of the goodies Machap got, from Tony P's Post 2:

1. Some 900 street lamps were put up. A hawker in Melaka town joked that its now so bright, he can see the ants on the road in the evenings! Roads were resurfaced, even when they are not particularly worn. A RM1.2 million recreational park was created all within a two-week period!
2. BN was blatant in its attempt to sway voters preferences. BN's candidate, Lai Meng Chong was "caught" red-handed by the press in the early days of campaigning for offering RM8,000 to RM13,000 to renovate individual villager's houses.
3. Later in the campaign, he was also "caught" on film giving out free food to constituents to entice support for BN. Again, this represents an offence under Malaysian laws. "A person is guilty under this offence known as 'treating' if he gives or provides any food, drink, refreshment or provision for the purpose of corruptly influencing others to give their vote during elections."
4. Two days before the campaign ended, BN "donated" 400 brand new bicycles to a local school. Students were seen brandishing brand new mountain bicycles home that very day.
5. At the karaoke entertainment centres organised by BN, not only do the participants get "free" entertainment, they will each receive RM20 as a "token of appreciation" for every song they belt out.
6. And the ugliest of it all? Outright cash in exchange for votes. See Malaysiakini report here with all the photos. Our party worker, Thing Siew Shuen captured the utter lack of morals and integrity of MCA and Barisan Nasional on film. These voters collected RM100-200 each.

I'm not begrudging the Machap folks. I think it's wonderful for them that they're getting attention and probably development that they deserve. The utter unfairness of the case, of using Tax Payers' Money and winning through these backdoor tactics, is what I'm riled up by. Kena by-election is like kena lottery. Corrupting people's souls with money. TAX PAYERS' MONEY!!

OK. Moving on.

Look what's on The Sun today: "Development pledges not 'vote-buying'" The whole piece is so wrong that I'm just going to put it in whole here:

KUALA LUMPUR (April 16, 2007): Development promises by ministers to voters during an election cannot be construed as vote-buying. (WTF #1)

Neither can allocations, given out in kind by ministers during elections, be deemed as bribing voters, Election Commission (EC) chairman Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman said today.

"Ministers and functionaries, people connected to the government, they're doing their job," he told reporters at the launch of a national voter registration campaign.

Abdul Rashid stressed, however, that election candidates and political parties cannot make promises to voters during an election. (WTF #2 which contradicts WTF#1)

In the recently-concluded Machap by-election in Malacca, voters benefitted from newly-paved roads, hundreds of new street lamps, and a RM1.2 million recreational area near the Durian Tunggal dam.

Other development goodies were also announced by the Barisan Nasional leadership, including 102 grants for housing lots for second-generation settler families at Felda Tun Ghafar Machap, and a RM3.7 million allocation to Felda Machap to upgrade water pipes, construct a multi-purpose hall and repair a mosque.

Various ministries also promised different kinds of allocations to improve the lives of voters, prompting DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng to remark that the Machap voters were the "real victors" in the by-election.

Lim told theSun the party would be making a formal complaint to the EC today as such promises were an offence under the Election Offences Act 1954 as stipulated under Sections 8 to 10, which cover the issues of treating, exerting undue influence and bribery.

Abdul Rashid said vote-buying was not the EC's problem. (WTF#3?!?!?)

"Vote-buying is for the Anti-Corruption Agency (to investigate). We are not given the power to handle corrupt practices," he said, adding that the EC could only advise people to take part in the elections in "a clean way".

"Of course, if evidence is there, the party can bring the case to court and they (the courts) will decide," he said.

However, he noted that in previous court cases which contested these issues, the judges had ruled that there was no need to stop ministers from publicising their projects. (WTF#4 Neener neener neener there's nothing you can do)

Earlier, Abdul Rashid said the national voter registration exercise hoped to register at least 50% of the current 4.9 million unregistered voters.

So far, only 10.2 million Malaysians aged 21 years and above, out 15.1 million, have registered to vote. (WTF#5 Pulling hair out stomping on daisies belting expletives)

//UPDATE
I have just noticed that WTF#1 differs slightly from WTF#2.
WTF#1: Development promises by ministers to voters during an election cannot be construed as vote-buying.
WTF#2: Election candidates and political parties cannot make promises to voters during an election.

Can anyone enlighten me with the technicalities of WTF#1 vs. WTF#2, apart from there are no opposition leaders who are ministers?
//End of UPDATE

And so it continues with Ijok. Elizabeth Wong has already got some early tidbits. Here and here.

Let's end this post with Bribe-Me Badges, crafted by Mob1900:

Another photo from FRIM

Not in the blogging state of mind now. Hope pictures will suffice.

A comeback... sorta.

Date
n. The sweet, edible, oblong or oval fruit of the date palm, containing a narrow, hard seed.

Can also be used in place of stone.

Stone
tr. v. To hurl or throw stones at, especially to kill with stones.

Context: here and here.

Complete the sentence.

Three little subtitles

A June by any other name would be as sweet.
My mum's getting increasingly concerned that I'm going by the name "June" instead of "Jun-E", the name she gave me. Her concern is somewhat legitimate, as she probably didn't give me an "E" just so I could take it off. And "Jun-E"'s actually a pretty cool name, and I like being called that.

"June" just stuck because I figured that a single syllable would be easier to remember than two, during my freshman year in uni. I will not miss the predictable "I'm July" statement which a random wise guy would normally follow with my introduction. I have yet to come up with a clever retort to counter it.

"June x 2" will still stand as my title for the time being. But otherwise you can address me as "Jun-E". I'm trying to ease back into it, (My own name! Oh my parents would be proud.) and you can help.

---

Yet another way of saying cowardly.
You, my dear, are contemptibly fainthearted.
(I was so tickled by the phrase that I chortled out loud in CoffeeBean)

---

KF is held up in Texas.
My soon-to-be-pronounced-imaginary bf, KF has had to stay another month in Austin therefore he will miss my birthday.

*mega pout*

I have thus decided to ditch him from my plans to go up north to have all the o jian (fried eggs with oysters) to my heart's content. That would mean one for every meal, and another one in-between every meal. All my gained fat should be attributed to noone but KF. (Since he's the absent valve that limits my intake)

All-Blogs Brainstorming

My biological clock is damn screwed up, yo! So as a procrastinating activity away from GRE vocab studying (I've finished "A", am on to "B" now, making flashcards and doodling on them to make them stick to my brains) and waiting for the appropriate time to drop dead, here's an unplugged version of what I'd like the NAB/All-Blogs to be.

The Cool Part.

1. It could have special interest groups, sort of like in Mensa. Small clusters of social groups. From comic book lovers to snowboarding to camera geekery to academics. Whatever holds your fancy.
   
2. The premises, when we get it, could be a place to hold blog meets, at a cheap fee/order of makan etc. Comfy sofas, nice ambience, great place for people to chill. Wi-Fi semestinya ada!
   
3. Annual awards! Of various languages, and various genres.
   
4. Wacky newsletter with a compilation of interesting blog posts, among other content like events etc.
   

Knowledge-sharing

1. Training for noobs, of blog lingo (noob=newbie), some HTML stuff, image editing etc.
2. Legal training! What rights have we? What boundaries should we respect?
   

Random jots

1. I think we should permit anonymity in registration. (FYI only half of the blogosphere blog under a real identity)
   
2. A general code of ethics, where the blogger should read and sign before being a member. More like a moral obligation and non-binding. All-Blogs shouldn't be a harbour for sued bloggers, for the simple reason that it's likely that less than 0.1% of the blogosphere would actually be sued. (Jeff and Rocky are unlucky. And their supporters please don't flame me, focus on the issue at hand please) And those that don't think that they're gonna be sued will not be interested to join.
   
3. Have to find "hubs", or popular bloggers of various segments of the cyberspace. Make them understand what All-Blogs is, and why they should join. If they're persuaded, it's likely they would spread the news for others to follow suit as well.
   
4. The committee has to reflect the blogosphere. And probably have the said popular bloggers inside as well.
   

And why for everyone? For the simple reasons:

1. The Malaysian blogosphere is really really diverse. Sociopolitical bloggers have no right to claim that "All-Blogs" is theirs. And it's important to be inclusive. Not discriminatory of anyone.
   
2. If All-Blogs is marketed as a sociopolitical alliance, it's a HUGE ASS TARGET for the govt to shoot us. And if I'm required to unmask myself, put myself on a target list, and pay an annual subscription fee of RMxx, why should I?? The All-Blogs will just die out eventually.
   

I've not thought too much about the part towards the government yet. Back to my studies!

Random word of the day:

anodyne adj soothing
Don't you agree that nothing is quite so anodyne as a long soak in a bubble bath?

SWEAT.

Have sent it over. Timestamped 8:55am.

Can't say that I'm 100% satisfied with the work, but I have to let go.

*Drops dead*

*Wakes up momentarily*
p/s. It's just the final draft. Probably will have amendments to do.

*Drops dead again*

----

Update at 9:11am - Have called Prof W. who said that he will only be free to see me next Monday. Then I sent an email to the admin to say that I've passed up the final draft. Hope that they'll be ok with it.

So now it's just a waiting game (which sucks really). Will try my bestest not to go back and pick on the draft. Next Friday Thursday's my GRE test and I am one week behind the study schedule (because someone had to draaaaaaaaag the thesis for an extra week). If they fail me for late submission, the GRE wouldn't matter anyway. Convo next year lor. PhD next next year lor. I'll go waste my life in NZ and shear all their sheep. And then use all the money on Zorbing and bungee jumping.

Zombified and unable to think straight. Am inclined to watch lesbian porn.

ARRRRGGHHHH.

At least I get to keep my hair.

----

Update at 9:45am. Prof got back to me regarding the thesis conclusion (which admittedly is kind of shoddy). I have not managed to tie up the theoretical perspectives with the findings. Well it's good to get feedback now than next week.

To finish the thesis,

... my strategy of playing Minesweepers while waiting for inspiration to arrive is obviously not working.

Therefore I am swearing to finish my final draft and send it to Prof W.'s inbox by 9am today,

OR ELSE.

I will cut my almost waist-length hair off. To the length of Chong Hwa Independent High School's standard.

MUAHAHAHAHHAA.

Recommendations for the NAB

It's 3:51pm, Texas time! I am light-headed with sleep deprivation.

Anyway I wrote a piece on recommendations for the National Alliance of Bloggers. Felt so very strongly about its potential, and yet there are so many pitfalls ahead that may await it, if we are not careful.

Check it out here, at my research blog.

I may put it inside the conclusion of my thesis, so please do comment about it.

3am notes

National Alliance of Bloggers is up! See here. The National Press Club is a smoky, smoky place. At 5:45pm I found myself holding a glass of beer (thanks Zorro) and standing awkwardly amidst big shot bloggers. Met in person for the first time, Politikus, Elizabeth Wong, Elviza, Anon. fm Miri, Mob1900, Susan Loone, The Malay Male, Rajahram and probably some other peeps I have left out (please don't mind, it's 3am my dears). And also Husna from Forward magazine who has to set up a blog tomorrow 'coz she's in the Female Liars Group Pic.

Blooper of the evening: Blur blur kena nominated to be the NAB's treasurer without knowing what happened, then upon realization, panicked, and rejected the motion by exclaiming "I'm bad with money". Gaaah there are probably like eight different interpretations that can spawn from that badly rendered sentence. I meant it in the

I-had-to-have-my-own-treasurer-
when-handling-only-a-class-of-30-students-
because-I-kept-rugiing-money-thank-you-Mel-Tan
sort of way.

Probably my body language (read: violent flailing of arms) sent the message so Tony Yew is the treasurer now.

Looky here another gathering for bloggers! Aren't we active nowadays. Check out the B.U.M. 2007.

Neener neener neener~

The above is in response to this.

Huffin' and puffin' to the finishing line.

(But mocking that is more important so I took 30 seconds off my precious time)

I'm racist

This morning when I re-listened to my recorded interview with Rustam A. Sani, I thought about what an amiable fellow he is, and dropped by his blog. Previously he had stopped updating it for a couple of months then I sorta forgot about it. Fortunately it looks like he is blogging regularly again, and I've added him to my sidebar.

Rustam is an academic, and he has been described by Jomo as "arguably Malaysia's leading public intellectual". His latest post, Let's all go to China - to settle down! set me reflecting about how myself, the self-professed patriotic liberal who tries to avoid racialization - have been racist all this while, unconsciously.

For example, yesterday I was trying to tell YKent about Sepet and some notable scenes within it to entice him into watching it, when the inevitable question came up: "What movie is it ah? Is it a Malay movie?"

I hesitated a little. "Erm... it's Malay... but there's a lot of Cantonese inside, then English, somemore suddenly got Hokkien wann... how to explain ah?"

"So it's Malaysian lah." A simple reply from YKent at the wheel nudged me to the sudden realization that it was indeed the only adjective for the cultural rojak that is Sepet. Why did something so obvious escape me?

Rustam puts it this way:

Our political discourse up to this day, in my opinion, still smacks of the flavours of our good old racist days in the 1960s, when our supposedly brightest political thinkers were still struggling with their woolly thoughts such as found in The Malay Dilemma.

There is no denial that times have changed and the world too has changed. But the terrain of the Malaysian political discourse – or at least of its realpolitikal maneuverings – remain the same (at least in the fuzzy perception of some of our political leaders): the keris-bearing Malays are still loyal servants of their “sultan”, the transient Chinese still longing to go back to China to really be successful, and the Indians still looking for opportunities from the emerging market that India is today – their “true” homeland.

Alas, I am still but a mere mortal thinking from a framework that has been instilled into me since I was young. I am guilty of thoughts of wonderment when I see Indian girls wearing baju kurung, and a Chinese eating with his hands. A crime that happens automatically sees me asking about the perpetrator, "What race was he?"

There is hope yet. I am a thinking human, I learn, and I am an agency of change. I live to make a difference, and I have a bubbling fountain of contagious (and probably slightly annoying) enthusiasm. Yasmin Ahmad's films make me think. In turn, I am spreading it to my inner circle of friends whom I hope may be able to share the reflections that I had after watching the movies.

Ask Guang Hong whom I lured to Wiun's house with sandwiches then strapped onto the sofa to watch Sepet. He was enthralled. YKent who was preparing the said sandwiches didn't get to watch, but is dying to. Wiun who was impressed by Mukhsin (he had to go watch it after my glowing review) has borrowed Sepet and will hopefully not copy the DVD for his collection - RM19.90 only wei! Sokonglah sikit filem buatan Malaysia!

Lack of sleep has gotten into my head. I think I will go to bed instead of waiting for KF to wake up from his deep slumber at the other end of the world.

FYI I've extended the deadline to this Friday. Till then, the march continues.